Counseling for Anxiety

It can be incredibly confusing and even frightening to deal with the physical sensations of anxiety (heart racing, palm sweating, trembling, feelings of panic), especially if you don’t understand why they’re happening. But what you might not know is that the symptoms of anxiety are an autonomic response of your body to stress — it’s your body’s way of preparing to fight, flee, or freeze. Stress, in its many forms, is a normal and a natural response and can even be helpful when it keeps us alert and motivated. However, when the feelings of stress become overwhelming or chronic, it may interfere with your daily life, relationships, and work.

Anxiety: A Common Experience

Anxiety is a common experience, yet it can often feel incredibly isolating when you're in the midst of it. If you live with excessive worry, you are not alone, anxiety affects millions of people around the world. In the U.S. alone, over 40 million adults, or roughly 19.1% of the population, experience an anxiety disorder each year and approximately 31.1% of adults in the U.S. will face an anxiety disorder at some point in their lifetime. (National Institute on Mental Health [1] )

The Exhaustion of Chronic Anxiety

Anxiety is a physiological response that can wear you down especially if it is chronic. The body’s “fight-or-flight” system requires significant energy, and when it’s constantly activated — as is the case for many who experience chronic anxiety — it can feel like you’re in a constant state of alertness. Over time, this ongoing stress can lead to mental and physical exhaustion. The body’s fight-or-flight response is meant to help us survive during temporary times of danger (perceived or actual), but when anxiety is a constant, it can feel draining and overwhelming.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder is defined by The American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders revised version five (DSM 5-TR) as when an individual experiences excessive anxiety or worry occurring for at least six months.  The DSM 5-TR recognizes six symptoms that are associated with generalized anxiety disorder:

• Restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge

• Being easily fatigued

• Difficulty concentrating or your mind going blank

• Feeling irritable

• Muscle tension

• Sleep disturbances

If three or more of these symptoms are causing you significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning then it might be time to seek out therapy.

Panic Attacks

In addition to feeling anxious, you might also experience panic attacks.  Panic attacks are defined by the DSM 5-TR as “an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes”.  The DSM 5-TR lists 13 physical and cognitive symptoms (not due to a medical condition) and are as follows:

• Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate

• Sweating

• Trembling or shaking

• Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering

• Feelings of choking

• Chest pain or discomfort

• Nausea or abdominal distress

• Feeling dizzy, unsteady, light-headed, or faint

• Chills or heat sensations

• Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations)

• Derealization (feelings of unreality or depersonalization (being detached from oneself

• Fear of losing control

• Fear of dying

It’s important to remember that having anxiety or experiencing panic attacks is not a sign of weakness or failure. It’s simply your body’s way of reacting to life’s demands, and sometimes, these reactions can become overstimulated.

It’s natural to want relief from this cycle. You may crave peace and calm, yet find yourself unable to stop the cycle of nervousness and worry. The good news is that there are ways to manage, understand and work with your anxiety and find a sense of ease again and therapy can be a supportive tool in this process.

How Therapy Can Help You Manage Anxiety or Panic

If anxiety or panic is impacting your life, therapy can be a useful tool in learning how to manage and cope with it. Whether your anxiety is triggered by relationships, past experiences, future concerns, or general worries, therapy can help you to address the underlying causes and develop strategies for feeling more in control.

Understanding the Root Causes of Anxiety

Exploring the causes of your anxiety might be helpful to understand where these feelings are connected to. By exploring the specific stressors or past experiences that may have shaped your current emotional state, you can begin to uncover the factors that contribute to your feelings of unease. These could be related to the past, unresolved needs, or patterns of thinking and behavior that have developed over time in response to life circumstances. Sometimes, anxiety is rooted in long-held beliefs or memories that continue to influence how you perceive the world around you. By identifying these root causes, you can begin to unpack the complexities of your anxiety, allowing for greater awareness and insight.

Calming the Body Through Somatic Resourcing

When you’re experiencing physical symptoms of anxiety, learning how to calm your body can provide relief. Utilizing grounding techniques, breathwork, and mindfulness exercises that can help regulate your nervous system can help you slow down your breathing, release physical tension, and re-center your mind when anxiety begins to take over. Over time, these techniques can become second nature, empowering you to manage anxiety in the moment.

Exploring how your body responds to stress, identifying physical triggers, and learning to process overwhelming emotions through both mindful awareness and somatic technique can help you tune into your body's sensations, recognizing where tension, discomfort, or anxiety are held, and use these insights to shift your emotional response. Therapy can help you in finding coping strategies that resonate with your unique needs, helping you cultivate a toolkit that integrates both mind and body supporting you can feel more resourced in managing anxiety when it arises.

Understanding your different needs around safety using the IFS approach

Internal Family Systems (IFS) approach offers a powerful and compassionate approach to healing. IFS views anxiety not as a problem to be "fixed," but as a part of you — often a "protector" part that has developed to help you navigate stress and uncertainty, but which may end up causing more distress over time. In IFS, your therapist and you can work together to explore the different parts of yourself that are involved in your anxiety, helping you understand their role and purpose. By bringing awareness and compassion to these inner parts, you can potentially start to shift the patterns that fuel your anxiety and develop a healthier, more balanced relationship with your emotions. Through IFS, you can learn to calm the inner turmoil, reduce the hold anxiety has on your life, and cultivate a greater sense of inner peace and control.

[1] https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/any-anxiety-disorder

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